Technology

Apple reveals its most popular apps, games for 2018

Apple on Tuesday unveiled its greatest hits for 2018, its year-end compilation of the best and biggest apps and titles that have garnered huge popularity among its users.

The US tech giant's 'Best Of 2018' is a global collection of top charts from its editors across every category, from gaming to productivity and entertainment.

Procreate Pocket

On the iPhone, top honours went to Procreate Pocket, the iPhone App of the Year. Procreate Pocket is touted as the 'most powerful' sketching, painting and illustrating app for the iPhone, and features, among others, high-resolution canvasses, a wide array of brushes and Silica M, the same leading Metal engine used by Procreate on the iPad.

Donut County

Donut County, meanwhile, is the iPhone Game of the Year. In this story-based physics puzzle game, a player takes the role of a hole that's ever-growing on the ground, which must steal friends' trash and throw it in there.

Froggipedia

For the iPad, Froggipedia was named the iPad App of the Year. The augmented reality-powered app helps a user explores the anatomy of frogs in an engaging and interactive way.

Gorogoa

The iPad Game of the Year went to Gorogoa. The story-based puzzle game, whose scenes were hand-drawn by its developer Jason Roberts, involves a player manipulating and moving photos in a two-by-two grid in order to create new scenes.

Pixelmator Pro

Pixelmator Pro, meanwhile, was named the Mac App of the Year. The user-friendly image editor exclusive to the Mac comes with a wide range of professional-level and non-destructive editing tools.

In the music scene, some of the biggest names in the region were feted.

Iraqi singer Aseel Hamim was named Artist of the Year, while Egyptian actor Mohamed El Sharnouby is the Rising Artist of the Year. The Song of the Year, Waynak, went to Lebanon's Abeer Nehme, while the Album of the Year was Nassay from Egyptian singer Sherine.

In the movies category, two Marvel films topped the list: Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. Rounding out the top 10 were Ready Player One, A Quiet Place, Isle of Dogs, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Black Panther, Game Night, The Incredibles 2 and The Insult.

The best podcasts of 2018, meanwhile, were In the Dark, Slow Burn, Dr Death, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard and The Daily.